Best New Fantasy Books in July 2022

Retellings, alternate worlds and help us escape and learn about our own world. Here are our picks for best new fantasy books coming out this July …

Hooked by A.C. Wise

Type: Novel
Publisher: Titan Books
Release date: July 12

Den of Geek says: Wise’s previous spin on Peter Pan brought eldritch fantasy, LGBT community and a spooky interpretation of the story that both interrogates and acknowledges the childhood appeal of the original. We’re eager to see whether the sequel delivers the same.

Publisher’s summary: Captain James Hook, the immortal pirate of Neverland, has died a thousand times. Drowned, stabbed by Peter Pan’s sword, eaten by the beast swimming below the depths, yet James was resurrected every time by one boy’s dark imagination. Until he found a door in the sky, an escape. And he took the chance no matter the cost. 

Now in London twenty-two years later, Peter Pan’s monster has found Captain Hook again, intent on revenge. But a chance encounter leads James to another survivor of Neverland. Wendy Darling, now a grown woman, is the only one who knows how dark a shadow Neverland casts, no matter how far you run. To vanquish Pan’s monster once and for all, Hook must play the villain one last time… 

The Last Blade Priest by W. P. Wiles

Type: Novel
Publisher: Titan Books
Release date: July 12

Den of Geek says: There’s a lot of repetition in this summer’s fantasy list, with copycat magical schools or young chosen ones aplenty. The Last Blade Priest stood out for its scope and religious drama (human sacrifice!), plus characters who seem deeply embedded in their careers and their world.

Publisher’s summary: Inar is Master Builder for the Kingdom of Mishig-Tenh. Life is hard after the Kingdom lost the war against the League of Free Cities. Doubly so since his father betrayed the King and paid the ultimate price. And now the King’s terrifying chancellor and torturer in chief has arrived and instructed Inar to go and work for the League. And to spy for him. And any builder knows you don’t put yourself between a rock and a hard place.
 
Far away Anton, Blade Priest for Craithe, the God Mountain, is about to be caught up in a vicious internal war that will tear his religion apart. Chosen from infancy to conduct human sacrifice, he is secretly relieved that the practice has been abruptly stopped. But an ancient enemy has returned, an occult conspiracy is unfolding, and he will struggle to keep his hands clean in a world engulfed by bloodshed.
 
In a series of constantly surprising twists and turns that take the reader through a vividly imagined and original world full of familiar tensions and surprising perspectives on old tropes, Inar and Anton find that others in their story may have more influence on their lives, on the future of the League and on their whole world than they, or the reader imagined.

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

Type: Novel
Publisher: Tor Books
Release date: July 26

Den of Geek says: Fans of both political epic fantasy and slow-burn romance will have something to enjoy in this novel described as “A complete joy to read” by author Everina Maxwell. ( Note that this one deals with sexual assault and its emotional fallout.)

Publisher’s summary: Velasin vin Aaro never planned to marry at all, let alone a girl from neighboring Tithena. When an ugly confrontation reveals his preference for men, Vel fears he’s ruined the diplomatic union before it can even begin. But while his family is ready to disown him, the Tithenai envoy has a different solution: for Vel to marry his former intended’s brother instead.

Caethari Aeduria always knew he might end up in a political marriage, but his sudden betrothal to a man from Ralia, where such relationships are forbidden, comes as a shock.

With an unknown faction willing to kill to end their new alliance, Vel and Cae have no choice but to trust each other. Survival is one thing, but love―as both will learn―is quite another.